you?”
“No!” he says a little too loudly. “Absolutely not. The kid’s making the whole thing up. Says I punched him in the stomach completely unprovoked.”
“But were you there, Jason? Is there anyone who can place you there?”
“No, because I wasn’t there. It’s his word against mine.”
“Is he saying there were any witnesses?”
He has to stop and think for a minute. “I don’t think so. Actually, I think maybe the complaint says that he was there with friends. I don’t remember exactly.”
“So if he was there with friends, presumably they would have seen something.”
Jason shrugs. “I guess so. But I wasn’t there, so it’s not like they can confirm or refute anything.”
She’s leaning over the banister now, watching the people parading down below. She shakes her head. “Jesus, Jason. I don’t know how you get yourself into these situations.”
“But I didn’t do it. That’s what I’m trying to tell you. There is no situation. He flunked my class. What was I supposed to do? Pass him because he’s the son of some bigwig? Which, incidentally, I didn’t know at the time. Not that it would have made any difference.”
On her upper arm, the smudge of the bruise now resembles a small birthmark. If he didn’t know that this was precisely where his hand had grabbed her last week, he’d never guess it was a result of his fury. He’d caught her with that Gary guy again. Jason had come to pick Gwen up after class, and when she hadn’t been waiting outside the building for him, he’d run in to let her know he was there. But when he’d rounded the corner to her office, she was leaning against the wall, Gary’s head bent down while he talked to her, his arm outstretched above her. Jason had startled them both, and Gary had scampered off, saying, “Hey, Jason. Good to see you, man.”
He can still remember the look in Gwen’s eyes, fearful and pleading, when he told her he’d wait outside for her. He’d stormed back to the car, and a few minutes later, she’d come out of the building and climbed into the passenger seat. “Honey, I know what you’re thinking, and it’s not at all what it might have seemed like,” she said.
He’d remained quiet, silently fuming the entire way home.
When they got back to their apartment, he’d headed straight for the kitchen and slammed the pot down on the stove while he waited for the water to boil for spaghetti. When Gwen had come in to help herself to a glass of wine, he grabbed her by the arm. “What the hell do you think you’re doing? Flirting with that idiot? Do you honestly expect me to believe nothing’s going on?”
“Jason, please,” she’d begged. “You’re hurting me.” But he didn’t care. He was going to get the truth out of her, no matter what.
“Tell me. Just tell me the truth, and we can be done here.”
“I swear to you,” she’d said, trying to rip her arm away, and his fingers had pressed more deeply into her skin, “we were just talking. Gary has a girlfriend. He doesn’t think about me that way.”
“Then why was he leaning over you like he might kiss you?” The image flashed through Jason’s mind, making him jealous all over again. Because the prospect of Gwen’s falling in love with someone else—which he understood made complete sense in the natural order of things (she should have been with someone else, someone better than Jason)—had scared the hell out of him.
“That’s ridiculous! He’d never do that. I’d never do that. How can you not know that? How can you not trust me?” And at that moment, the phone on the kitchen wall had started to ring. Something about the sudden noise jarred Jason from whatever rage had overtaken him. Just the simple noise of a phone ringing, as if he’d been jolted out of a dream. Kind of similar to the way he’d felt at the museum until he’d heard Gwen’s screams and saw the guy lying at his feet in a heap. When the phone rang, his hand dropped, releasing her arm. She’d immediately pulled it away, run into the bedroom sobbing and locked the door. And Jason had thought You idiot. What are you doing? His dad’s voice rang in his ears.
He thought for sure he’d lost her, that it was over. But no. There’d been heartfelt, tear-riddled apologies, makeup jewelry, makeup sex. He promised he’d never hurt her again. She said she